Craftinsure Silver Tiller, DeMay and Thames Series Merlin Rocket event at Upper Thames Sailing Club

This year's edition of the Upper Thames Sailing Club Merlin Rocket open meeting weekend (8th and 9th September) saw a temperamental forecast and every different flavour of weather, but often a noticeable lack of wind. Merlin Rockets would be racing for the Vintage DeMay Series, and the Craftinsure Silver Tiller and Thames Series.

This was most potent on the first day, for the DeMay vintage series as competitors arrived to see their reflections looking straight back at them. A few optimistic postponements, as well as a brilliant rule 42 talk by class judge David Battye kept the crowd around until the race team decided even a whisper of breeze required to start a race was just not on its way.

This left the club to do what they unquestionably do best - open the bar and provide the competitors with an excellent Greek style buffet meal, keeping the campers happy with forecasts of thunderstorms set to potentially cause problems overnight.

Craftinsure Silver Tiller, DeMay and Thames Series racing at Upper Thames - photo © Philip Russell

The next morning, those who'd ended up in tents (myself and Nicola) could be forgiven for their weariness given the frequent showers and loud rumbling across the night, while others in campervans enjoyed a slightly quieter sleep. The excess rain had caused the stream to build, but to our luck, the wind was beginning to build for the Craftinsure Silver Tiller. Sunday would see sailors racing for three separate series, the Craftinsure Silver Tiller, the Thames Series and DeMay Vintage Series.

Race one got away on an upstream start with Andy Harris and Sara Warren punching away from the fleet followed by Rob and Hattie Cage. With a very soft downwind against the current, Mark Stockbridge and Tre Jacobs took the spade oak shore to crawl into contention, with Chris and Pippa Kilsby turning up to the party at the end of the run.

David Battye was naturally itching to point his flag for inadequate stability and gifted Rob and Hattie the first set of circles, allowing Andy and Sara to maintain their lead until the final gun. Rob and Hattie took second, with Charlie Morgan and stand-in supercrew Lyla Jacob's taking a solid third.

Craftinsure Silver Tiller, DeMay and Thames Series racing at Upper Thames - photo © Philip Russell

The first attempt at Race 2 saw a big lead from team Kilsby, but this was cut short by the breeze dropping out on the leg upstream, and an eventual abandonment. After a brief wait ashore, the race for the Spade Oak challenge bowl began, with various boats jostling for the lead, most namely Andy and Sara, and Rob and Hattie, who were fast becoming the main protagonists of the day.

Further action was seen on the jury boat with said protagonists taking further penalty rotations but continuing to sail fast; it appeared an "on the edge" approach was paying off.

But through this battle emerged some unlikely heroes, as Mark Stockbridge and Tre Jacob's in 3727, a Winder Mk4 no less, showed their handling prowess to out-tack their vintage counterparts. They took visual line honours, but no gun was heard due to them being called early on the start. Thus it was Andy and Sara who took home all the silverware with some silky light airs sailing, with Ollie Meadowcroft and Dan Cocks sliding through in to second on a chaotic last beat, with Pete and Debs Walker taking third.

Craftinsure Silver Tiller, DeMay and Thames Series racing at Upper Thames - photo © Philip Russell

Behind Andy and Sara overall were the Cages, with two good results, and third was Ollie and Dan, who with a strong last race snuck their way on to the podium.

A huge thank you to UTSC Race team for putting on the racing in some challenging conditions. Thank you to our sponsor Craftinsure and to David Battye for using his time on Saturday to educate the fleet on Rule 42.

The next Craftinsure Silver Tiller is 21/22 September at Draycote Water Sailing Club, the next DeMay Vintage event is at Trent Valley Sailing Club on 6th October and the next Thames Series is on 13th October at Hampton Sailing Club.

Craftinsure Silver Tiller, DeMay and Thames Series racing at Upper Thames - photo © Philip Russell

Silver Tiller and Thames Series Results:

DeMay Results:

Craftinsure Silver Tiller, DeMay and Thames Series racing at Upper Thames - photo © Philip Russell